What I’m Watching: The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone: Season 1, Episode 7 “Not All Men” (B)

This episode felt like the closest to horror that we’ve seen yet on this show, with a clear issue spreading and threatening to turn every possible ally into a violent and uncontrollable enemy. I recognized a whole bunch of actors in this episode, starting with Luke Kirby from “Rectify” playing a far less sympathetic role as the first man to become infected by the meteor. Taissa Farmiga, recently seen in films like “The Mule,” “What They Had,” and “In a Valley of Violence,” was the lead who began to notice this horrific shift, and Rhea Seehorn, one of the most valuable players on “Better Call Saul,” as the sister who took a bit more time to start believing her. Ike Barinholtz, usually far more obnoxious in projects like “The Mindy Project,” was a creative but effective casing choice as Mike, whose creepy rendition of “Happy Birthday” was by far the most memorable scene of the episode. I knew I recognized Cole, who was played by Percy Hynes White from the recently-cancelled “The Gifted.” I like that Seehorn’s Martha wanted to harness the power of the meteors that was turning the men into superpowered fighters, though the rules of this nightmare didn’t allow for that. The near-closing interaction with the guard who was evidently affected demonstrated, as this show usually does, that all is decidedly not well, and understanding what the problem is doesn’t mean that it can be easily solved. A happy ending is rarely in the cards on this show, even if characters did manage to survive.